1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of toys and amusement devices.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art, there are several examples of toy balls which will produce sounds when activated. For example, Anthony, U.S. Pat. No. 2,780,029 discloses a ball which contains a music box which plays a predetermined tune when activated. Oman, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,379 and Sebree, U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,462 each disclose balls inside of which are mounted mechanical bells which ring when the ball is moved or rolled. De Costa, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,709,841 and 1,789,333 disclose a diaphragm contained within a ball which produces a noise or tone when moved from a position of equilibrium. These prior art balls are constrained by the fact that tones of only a single pitch are produced or, if different pitches are available, are the result of a predetermined and fixed source.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball which will produce tones of varying pitch, depending upon the orientation of the ball by the user.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a ball which produces a tone only after the ball has been in a particular orientation for a certain amount of time so that a user may go from a tone of one pitch to a tone of a second pitch without activating any tones therebetween.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a ball which will turn on when a user picks it up and turn off when a user ceases manipulation, thereby to avoid the necessity of a switch or the inadvertent discharge of the batteries.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a ball which will produce tones of varying pitches throughout at least one octave of a standard scale.